The Conclave - Abarat

Revelations is offering a unique opportunity for open discussion between Clive and his fans. Here is your space - a place to discuss topics relating to Clive's works where your thoughts will be posted ahead of our next interview with Clive. Having seen the entries posted here, we'll be encouraging Clive to join the discussion, respond to your observations and and to add his own thoughts..! We hope to foster intelligent and informed debate, so 'play nicely', send us your thoughts by e-mail (with 'The Conclave' in the header) and we'll put your unedited words in front of Clive... Anything and everything to do with the Abarat Series - loves and hates, hopes for the volumes to come..? "Candy will come to understand herself as a walker between worlds before the quartet of Abarat is over. But I think of the world that I bridge as being primarily worlds of darkness and of light. I want to move between good and evil, I want to move between extremes. I think of myself as somebody who is reporting from a world of dreams. "I love Candy because she is a very tough, strong character in a very strange world. I also have a real fondness for Malingo, who turns out to be her sidekick in subsequent novels. And I have a real fondness for the villains, so I would have to say Christopher Carrion ranks highly in there too. Carrion will turn out to be a villain with a lot of sympathetic elements to him, and I've always felt the best villains are those you can comprehend... "There is a huge story, which runs through the four books, which is about the ongoing battle between night and day. It is going to resolve itself in the space of this quartet. And it also has to do with why Candy feels she's been in this place before. So Candy's sense of herself is one of the things we're going to understand more. The intricate relationships between Mater Motley and Christopher Carrion, Carrion and Candy, and Candy and a bunch of other characters, will be explained in further books, too..." Interview Barnes and Noble, Fall 2002. Allen: "My wife and I just want to tell Clive that we love his Abarat books, we've read both the first and second and are excitedly waiting the third. My wife and I are blind but yet we see the stunning visuals and wonders of the world Clive portrays...being blind doesn't mean you don't see with your heart, spirit or mind. My wife is a writer and she has yet to be published, so she looks upon certain authors as idols...Clive's Thief Of Always will always be her favorite book. Thank you Mr. Barker for giving us a glimpse into the talent that is you, we all tell stories some like you just do it better." 16 July 2006 Shay: "I have been reading the books of the Abarat and waiting for future installments since I read the first book a little over four years ago. One of the things I really enjoy about the series is that the villains all have very well thought out and creative stories of their own. They are not just some villain whose sole purpose is to just fight the protagonist. However, with the exception of possibly Hobb Finnegan (being a mix of bloods from both the Light and Dark islands) and Letheo there are still no characters that are of the dark side that take up the mantle of being more in favor of the good side (though not specifically siding with the islands of Day.) Is there any chance a dark protagonist will rise, whether it be out of rebellion for Mater Motley's rule to just sheer determination to do something other than spending countless days on an island? It would be nice to have someone of dark origins who embraces the darkness and monsters of the Night Islands but understands the need for peace and cooperation between the Islands of Night and Day. If Mater Motley and Christopher Carrion are ever truly killed off, then it makes sense someone would rise to fill the political power vacuum that would then reside over the Islands of Night. While at this point in the series Hobb Finnegan seems to be the most likely out of all introduced characters to eventually rule the Night with peace, it is my own hope that this isn't so and a person with a much darker personality will be honored with such a position." 2 February 2007 Lisa: "Dear Clive, I love the Abarat series and your incredible imagination and creativity. The artwork is beautiful. After reading Book 2, I feel sorry for Christopher Carrion and I hope he will end up happy in the end. Candy does not seem to be his soul mate but I hope he will find the love he seeks somewhere, and get rid of that nasty hag Mater Motley. I am also curious about why his face looks so awful and why he has to wear a glass mask filled with nightmares." 18 February 2007 Mary McIntyre: "Hi Clive! How goes the progress of the third Abarat book? For everything that makes it what it is Abarat is my favorite series.That is why I am so eager to know this. I just can't wait to get my hands on it! Please tell me! "I have one other inquiry. This is about Princess Boa. What I am wondering (and I notice a lot of other fans are wondering) is, is she really as saintly and perfect as she is so far made out to be? Could you making her out to be so good and such be some kind of set up for something that happens in a later book? I know you can't give an out right answer, but could you please give a hint or something?" 17 March 2007 Brandon Parker: "I absolutely love the Abarat books, but I've noticed that when I read (or reread) them, the sense of wonder and excitement is underlined by a kind of sadness, too. I suppose because a part of me wishes that world were real and could be lived in outside of the imagination. Also because in the context of the story, Candy is a "special" character and sort of "chosen." And of course, when you're reading the book and thinking about it, you realize that in such a world, you would not be special. "I'm just curious what Clive would think of someone having this kind of reaction to his stories. I wouldn't think this is the kind of response he was expecting from the reader, but maybe I'm wrong. I just hope I'm not completely missing the point with his books. I still enjoy them a huge deal. I don't see this as a bad thing, either. A lot of the best stories always seem to have that potential to "hurt" you, in some way." 2 April 2007 Your thoughts here... mail us here...please!" The Conclave | The World According To... Index | Home page This page has been created for information and entertainment purposes only. All quotes remain the copyright of the original owners.